Kyoko Bowskill, the founder of Tokyo-based LINK, is working to revive the centuries-old Japanese tradition of carrying objects of all sorts in beautiful reusable squares of fabric: furoshiki. Made from smooth and lightweight cotton fabric and measuring 90cm square (about 35 inches), these furoshiki can be twisted into wine bottle carriers, folded for gift-wrapping, knotted into a quick tote bag, spread out for a picnic, or simply tossed around your shoulders as a scarf.

From the initial design to the finishing touches, each scarf is hand-made. LINK collaborates with designers around the world to create new imagery for their scarves, adding a modern spin to the age-old concept. The small factory where each scarf is made has decades of experience that they use to pull each screen print; carefully air dry the scarves, and hand-roll and sew each seam for a polished finish.

Artist Ronit Baranga (previously) creates ceramic sculptural works she describes as existing on the “border between living and still life”—objects guaranteed to either tickle your funny bone or haunt your worst nightmares, depending on your perspective. Baranga depicts dishware as sprouting human fingers and gaping mouths as the objects traipse across tabletops or physically cling to one another in a permanent embrace. The pieces are both silly and sinister as they come to life as if from a cartoon. A quick scroll through her Instagram reveals even darker works that give us the bonafide heebie-jeebies.

Artist duo Ann Wood and Dean Lucker (aka Woodlucker) forged a partnership in 1987 shortly after graduating from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Together they pursue a variety of both collaborative and personal projects from Lucker’s kinetic sculptures to Wood’s illustrated papercraft. Wood refers to her process as “drawing with scissors,” and merges aspects of both paper cutting and traditional illustration with ink. After forming the moths, butterflies, feathers, and flowers, the pieces are then carefully arranged within collection boxes designed by Dean. You can follow more of their work on Instagram and on their portfolio site. (thnx, Diana!)

Sydney-based artist Niharika Hukku translates the fine detail work she learned as an illustrator to her painted ceramics, creating natural scenes that range from fluffy white clouds to schools of swimming fish. Each vessel is thrown and fired by Hukku herself, and finished with a variety of ceramic glazes. When she’s not creating and decorating porcelain, she is an avid water color painter, often working in large-scale. You can see a more diverse range of her inspiration, including kookaburras and koi fish, on her Instagram and website. (via So Super Awesome)

The Parthenon of Books, 2017. Steel, books, and plastic sheeting. 19.5 × 29.5 × 65.5 m. Commissioned by documenta 14, with support from the Ministry of Media and Culture of Argentina.

South American conceptual artist Marta Minujín has just installed a towering new architectural installation in Germany called The Parthenon of Books, a scaffold replica of the famous Greek temple clad in 100,000 copies of banned books. The piece is currently on view in Kassel, Germany as part of a 100-day art exhibition called Documenta 14.

Minujín worked with students from Kassel University to identify 170 titles that have been historically banned worldwide by various institutions, and then sought help from the public to obtain donated copies. The books were then wrapped in a protective plastic coating to shield them from the elements while allowing visitors to easily identify each title.

An earlier version of The Parthenon of Books was first installed in 1983, referencing an event in Minujín’s native Argentina where books where confiscated and locked up as part of a military junta. This new iteration rests on a site where Nazis burned books by Jewish and Marxist writers in 1933 as part of a broad campaign of censorship.

The Parthenon of Books will be on view through mid-September and you can see more photos at the Instagram hashtag #parthenonofbooks. (thnx, Alice!)

Joshua Flint (previously) paints scenes in relationship to the way we access old memories in our mind, blurring motions and obscuring the identities of his works’ subjects. The visual narratives are not linear, but rather create a surreal mash-up of landscapes and worlds, sourcing inspiration from digitized museum archives, vintage shops, and social media.

“The paintings fluctuate between the familiar and the unknown while simultaneously including the past and present,” said Flint in an artist statement. “By rearranging the hierarchy of elements the paintings become fictions that allow countless interpretations. Layered into works are references to liminality, ecological issues, neuroscience, psychological states, and the history of painting, among others.”